Meredith Vieira Talks MS With AARP Magazine

November 22, 2011

Meredith Vieira and her husband Richard M. Cohen are the December/January cover of the upcoming AARP The Magazine, discussing how their family deals with Richard’s MS, their extraordinary marriage, family and more.

The couple offer AARP The Magazine a deeply personal and moving glimpse into their relationship, her reasons for leaving the Today show, and their family’s struggle with Cohen’s multiple sclerosis.

The couple and their children share the daily challenges the family faces due to Richard’s disease. In a series of moving interviews, Meredith, Richard and their children discuss how they make the most of life despite his chronic illness. Personal friends and colleagues, including Vieira’s Today co-host Matt Lauer, also provide insight into one of America’s most successful couples.

“He has very bad days,” says Meredith, referring to her husband’s struggle. "He’s so funny; he’ll say ’I’m in control. I hate my life but I’m in control. It’s good that he vents. He’s having a [very bad] day, and what is he going to do, pretend that he’s not? But then he’ll soldier on.

“He said to me a million times, ‘I thought I would beat this. I thought I would be the one.’

“People want to help, so when we’ve needed friends in times of any crisis, we ask. And I think it’s really important for caregivers not to feel that it’s all on you at any given time, because it’s not.”

Richard goes on to talk about living with his condition, and trying new medicines: “There are so many different diseases, and they do different things to your body. But the coping issues that go with these illnesses are remarkably similar.”

To read more about how this remarkable couple are dealing with their daily lives, click here.